DeClub - Calamvale

"This is the best Bingsoo in Brisbane", I was told by a fellow foodie. Ever since hearing those words, I knew that I had to pay DeClub a visit. Although located right next to my gym, I have been trying to not "reward" myself with indulgences every time I work out, so it took a little planning to go with Dr L after a dinner nearby, for us to finally go there for an after dinner dessert.

 

We arrived to a nearly full cafe. I suppose that this would have been its peak business hours at roughly 8pm on a Saturday. We got one of the last seats and a menu. Desserts were decidedly Asian style with a focus on snow ice and sweet soy pudding as well as waffles. It didn't take much by way of deliberation as we were only here for one thing.

We ordered a single straw melon bingsoo to share. It took more than 40 minutes for us to receive our order, even after following up with staff, who brusquely replied "do you want a refund instead". Dr L had a lot less patience than I did and by the time it arrived, he was already very annoyed. When we asked for two sharing bowls so that we didn't have to lean in or have it drip over the table between us, staff declined. This essentially was the last straw for him, regardless of how good it tasted.

To be fair to DeClub though, it was actually the best bingsoo I had ever tasted. Given, I hadn't really had all that much before, but this was light, milky and had a generous amount of flavourings and toppings all the way throughout. At the bottom was an assortment of popping pearls, pearls and puffed rice kernels for texture. The strawberries were fresh and sweet and I liked the crisp watermelon too. It's a shame that service was so atrocious to the point where Dr L has stated that he will refuse to go there ever again, but one can only hope that they improve on this front.

Price Range: $10 - $20pp

 

Taste: 8/10

Value: 6/10

Service: 2/10

Environment: 6/10

Beijing BBQ House - St Lucia

One good Chinese BBQ calls for another. I was recently reminded of a fairly good experience I had at Beijing BBQ House when they had a store along Pinelands Road. That shop has long closed but they still have one along Hawken Drive near UQ. Apparently it is now very popular among uni students and that's always a good sign of delicious food at a value price. We went for a drive out after work on a weekday to check it out.

The shop was fairly small, the owner was very friendly and hospitable but also a bit overwhelmed by having to take orders and do the waitering for all tables. 

The menu was fairly simple, one side consisted of largely bbq dishes. The other side was for main dishes such as rice and noodles. We ordered on the menu itself with a marker and taking it up to the counter.

First to arrive was the chilled pickled cucumber. This is a fairly standard dish that I make at home occasionally. The portion was generous but the taste was fairly mild, it wasn't as salty or sour as it could have been but I did like the fresh crunchy cucumber.

From left to right, we have lamb skewers, pork belly skewers and beef skewers. These were fairly pricey at $2.50 each. My favourite was again the lamb, because the flavours complimented the peppers and cumin most. The beef was a bit dry and chewy but the pork was moist and tender. Overall I still really enjoyed these skewers, they were notably less salty than Mr 7, and Dr L who had spent a few years in Beijing noted that the saltier versions were more authentic.

We had two garlic chicken wing skewers also. These were grilled really well and deliciously charred, however they were a bit lacking in garlic, which was a bit of a letdown.

I couldn't go past a serve of intestines. These were served perfectly crispy without a hint of bad smell. Again the spices were a bit weak, for Chinese BBQ, but it was by no means bland. I would have liked to have a bit more intestines on the skewer also, given the price.

Like at Mr 7, I also had a serve of scallops. The one on the right was done well, retaining its juices and was topped with vermicelli and garlic. The one on the right was unfortunately overdone so that the scallop had been quite dried out and the vermicelli stuck to the shell. 

 I remember having a really delicious serve of enoki wrapped in foil back in their Pinelands store. This was no longer available, but Dr L loves enoki so we had some grilled enoki to share. This was lightly charred and seasoned. I would have preferred the wrapped ones with more garlic.

Overall, we enjoyed our experience at  Beijing BBQ House. I'm in no rush to return but would also not hesitate to come back too but would be keen on trying more different BBQ in the area.

Price Range: $25 - $35pp

Taste: 7.5/10

Value: 8/10

Service: 8/10

Environment: 6/10

Kengu Ramen - Robertson

Ramen fanatics would have remembered Kengu Ramen, a small store which had opened briefly in Toowong in 2021 and then closed down. From the end of last year, they reopened in Robertson, and I've made a mental note of trying it out sometime. We had this opportunity last week after picking up some friends from the airport and arrived just in time for opening.

The restaurant is really small. So small that the totality was four tables with four chairs each in a small room. There was no counter to order and it only connected to a kitchen out back. The sign wasn't very clear but there were limits for dining time, a minimum order of one bowl of noodles per customer and no adding to orders after ordering. The menu was quite short, but allowed for a free upsize when ordering (rather than asking for extra noodles after you get your meal). Once you go in, staff come out and take your order and charge you at the table.

Dr L ordered the Kengu Signature Bonito Tonkotsu Ramen This was served with thick noodles topped with wood ear fungus, char siu, shredded onions and runny egg. He quite enjoyed the bowl, especially the thick noodles since he prefers noodles with bite. The broth was rich, thick and creamy, being more akin to the offerings at Taros rather than Genkotsu.

 

I ordered the Black Garlic Tonkotsu Tsukemen for variety. The noodles and toppings were the same as the Signature, however soup was served on the side and was topped with black garlic oil. Overall the portion was generous, I liked how the thick soup could cling to the noodles, I also really enjoyed the fragrance of charred black garlic. Other than that, the eggs were cooked really well. The noodles were thicker and firmer than I would have liked, next time I'll probably try their thinner option. Otherwise it was a solid bowl of ramen, but doesn't particularly stand out in the crowd of competitors. I would have no objections to coming back but have no urge to go out of my way to have it again.

Price Range: $18.5 - $19.5 per person

Taste: 7.5/10

Value: 7.5/10

Service: 7/10

Environment: 7/10

King Palace - Broadbeach

These days, when people ask me where I recommend for Yum Cha in Brisbane, I can only offer a despondent 'nowhere is particularly good'. It is quite a sad affair to see that prices have gone up exponentially while the quality has correspondingly dropped. Gone are the days when my parents could take me out for a casual family lunch on the weekend and we could get delicious hot dimsim for a fair price, nowadays it costs a moderate to high price for dumplings with thick skin or deep fried items which are served to you cold. As such, my search for a good quality yumcha continued, and we decided to venture down to the Gold Coast in search of hope. This is why we ended up at King Palace, after doing some reviews, it seemed promising and we went with a few friends.

I didn't know if there would be much of a crowd, so we made a reservation. Arriving at the opening time of 11.30, there was only one table other than ourselves. Service was efficient and a bit loud, reminding me of the yum cha places from back in the 90s. The menu covered everything you could want except for congee and offal. There were no trolleys but we gave our order to the friendly waiter.

Fresh Tieguanyin tea was served, it was strong and fragrant. They definitely didn't skimp on the tea leaves. 

It didn't take long before our table was filled with baskets upon baskets of steamed dim sim 

Starting off with the signature har gow and siu mai, these were freshly steamed to order. I like that the dumpling skin wasn't too thick. The prawns weren't overcooked, retaining a plump and moist texture. The same could be said for the siu mai. I liked how they topped it off with some flying fish roe as well.

My favourite steamed bean curd roll was done exceptionally well. There was a good ratio of meat to prawn in the filling, the bean curd was fresh and the sauce was flavoursome and light. This was undoubtedly the highlight of my meal. The beef tripe was done well and very tender. It was a shame they didn't have braised beef offal on the menu too, I would have enjoyed that. The BBQ pork bun was fairly standard though and didn't taste very different from the usual.

  

We also had turnip cake and BBQ pork rice paper rolls. Both were done well. There was ample turnip in the turnip cake but I would have preferred the rice paper rolls if they were a bit thinner. 

Although a tad thick, the rice paper rolls were undoubtedly fresh and fairly soft. They complimented the crispy deep fried bread sticks they were served with and are undoubtedly better than the other options we have in Brisbane right now.

I didn't get much from the deep fried options, noting that my favourite deep fried taro balls were not on the menu. We did however have a serve of baked bbq pork puff. The pastry was light and flakey with a sweet meaty filling that we all enjoyed.  

 Just like the BBQ pork puff, the egg tart was equally flakey. Although not served straight out of the oven (as evidenced by the fact the centre has dipped a bit and pulled away from the shell), it was still warm when we had it and the layers were unbelievable. It made for a perfectly buttery finish to our delicious meal.

I can't say that I've had such a good yumcha since I last went to Sydney, or even further back when I was last in Hong Kong. King Palace is definitely heads and shoulders above the current Brisbane offerings and even the drive down becomes worth it, given the prices are notably cheaper than Brisbane too. I will definitely make time to come back.

Price Range: $20 - $30pp

Taste: 8.5/10

Value: 8.5/10

Service: 8.5/10

Environment: 8/10